Strange things happen when you turn off the peak TV shows on one of your streaming services, and opt for basic cable instead. We were in Sweden when we decided to check out the local TV programming, only to find – one of our favourite character actors – Lance Henriksen slumming it in a gambling commercial.

In the past we have defended a slumming Al Pacino, and slumming bro’s Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman, but Henriksen is really pushing it with this one. To be fair, Henriksen has always made it clear he’s in this for the money. In the past we were still lucky enough to see the man with the gravelly voice appear in quality productions (Bishop in Aliens, The Right Stuff, Near Dark, The Terminator) and fun schlock (The Quick and The Dead, Pumpkinhead, No Escape, Hard Target), but those times are firmly behind him.

To us the last great performance the man gave was in Chris Carter’s Millenium TV series. Henriksen took on the rare lead role in this one, playing former FBI profiler Frank Black who works for a mysterious group to track down killers obsessed with the end of the millennium. After the show’s cancellation Henriksen’s judgement when it comes to roles became even more flaky, resulting in appearances in unwanted sequels (Hellraiser: Hellworld), misbegotten creature flicks (Gingerclown), animation (Tron: Uprising) and even a knock-off of The Da Vinci Code called The Da Vinci Treasure.

All of this has lead to his latest starring role, in a commercial for a gambling company based in Malta. Scandinavia loves its gambling, and the company has aired the commercial on television channels in Norway and Sweden. The spot has Lance Henriksen in a leather-clad outfit interrogating Nordic customers, trying to find out what the company of the spot exactly does. Watch it here:

The post Aliens Actor Lance Henriksen is now doing commercials appeared first on The Brain Jar.